This. OP is describing an obvious bullsh!tter, but this thread has taken on a different dimension.
While I agree... I still think the fascinating thing is that a bullsh!tter who doesn't run is a pretty well educated at the art to come up with 3:45 for 1500 meters. A standard BS'er would just say he was a 4ish minute miler. So my hat's off to the guy if he is this nuanced.
This. OP is describing an obvious bullsh!tter, but this thread has taken on a different dimension.
While I agree... I still think the fascinating thing is that a bullsh!tter who doesn't run is a pretty well educated at the art to come up with 3:45 for 1500 meters. A standard BS'er would just say he was a 4ish minute miler. So my hat's off to the guy if he is this nuanced.
On the other hand, the OP may be trolling all of us, and in that case, 10/10, but win-win for everyone involved - an interesting discussion was generated regardless of what's truth or fiction.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Just give us his name, if myself or Malmo or blowing rock master or one of the west coast masters runners doesn’t remember him it probably didn’t happen.
if this is a troll post, it’s a great one.
got a lot of guys talking about back in the day stuff.
Just give us his name, if myself or Malmo or blowing rock master or one of the west coast masters runners doesn’t remember him it probably didn’t happen.
That's a good idea. If me and you and a dog named boo* don't recall the name then there's a good chance that the person doesn't exist, or the OP simply misremembered what his friend said.
There was a treadmill mile top 10 record for the gym at my place of work and there was a guy who ran 4:10. I looked him up and he was a recent college grad track runner.
My data point: I’m ~50 and ran 3:42 in the mid 1990s - so younger and a bit faster than the OP’s coworker, which in theory should make my results more easily searchable. But you won’t find my PR results anywhere on the internet, even though they were set at meets that were (at the time) a fairly big deal. And few people other than those I directly raced against would remember me.
I was still racing in the early 2000s, and those results are more likely to show up in a Google search now (much to my chagrin, because if a co-worker Googles me now, they’ll find those slower times and think I’m lying about my PRs!). But a 3:45 guy from the 1980s would likely have left no digital trace, unless he happened to be on a records page maintained by his college or something.
My data point: I’m ~50 and ran 3:42 in the mid 1990s - so younger and a bit faster than the OP’s coworker, which in theory should make my results more easily searchable. But you won’t find my PR results anywhere on the internet, even though they were set at meets that were (at the time) a fairly big deal. And few people other than those I directly raced against would remember me.
I was still racing in the early 2000s, and those results are more likely to show up in a Google search now (much to my chagrin, because if a co-worker Googles me now, they’ll find those slower times and think I’m lying about my PRs!). But a 3:45 guy from the 1980s would likely have left no digital trace, unless he happened to be on a records page maintained by his college or something.
Basically agreed. His name would probably show up on a scanned image of a hardcopy of some meet results listing somewhere, but probably not findable by searching for his name, and the race where he ran his pr might or might not show up anywhere at all. E.g., You can find scanned hardcopies of every Penn Relays going back at least 50 years and probably longer, but you sure can’t search them electronically. So the best that’s reasonable to expect is some corroborating evidence that he was a decent runner around the time in question.
And ironically the most searchable thing might be a win or high placing in a small local road race like a Turkey Trot covered by the local newspaper. You could go to his hometown library and search the microfiche from the local newspapers from that era. Given not everyone goes all out in those, I’d call any sub-15 / sub-32 good enough for the present purpose.
My data point: I’m ~50 and ran 3:42 in the mid 1990s - so younger and a bit faster than the OP’s coworker, which in theory should make my results more easily searchable. But you won’t find my PR results anywhere on the internet, even though they were set at meets that were (at the time) a fairly big deal. And few people other than those I directly raced against would remember me.
I was still racing in the early 2000s, and those results are more likely to show up in a Google search now (much to my chagrin, because if a co-worker Googles me now, they’ll find those slower times and think I’m lying about my PRs!). But a 3:45 guy from the 1980s would likely have left no digital trace, unless he happened to be on a records page maintained by his college or something.
A 3:45 guy from 1980 would definitely be available in the dark web. Get a subscription to TAFN, it will show up.
I re-posted a link on this thread that keeps links to a lot of this stuff. Start there. Or is that too difficult for you?
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And ironically the most searchable thing might be a win or high placing in a small local road race like a Turkey Trot covered by the local newspaper. You could go to his hometown library and search the microfiche from the local newspapers from that era. Given not everyone goes all out in those, I’d call any sub-15 / sub-32 good enough for the present purpose.
Microfiche access to newspapers are pretty much shared via ALL libraries. You don't even have to go on site. Thats old skool research, and much more relevant than your Google or AL toys.
OK. How is that relevant to this thread? We're looking for an unknown 3:45 1500m.runner, not Todd Harbour? I think the OP simply misheard what his friend said.
You're kidding? 100% of 75 year olds would know the 1500m.
I once had an argument with a guy about the longest track race at the Montreal Olympics. He had been in the stands watching Viren, Lopes, and Foster, and recounted his enjoyment of the men’s 25,000m to this girl we were both trying to impress. I politely (maybe?) explained he was confusing 25 laps with 25,000m but he would not back down. He had *been there.* I recited the names, the times, probably their 1k splits, but he was adamant his attendance trumped my “book knowledge.”
Yeah yeah yeah, whatever, what I want to know is, who got the girl, you or him?
I ran collegiately I was a 400/800 runner and a guy I work with claims he ran 3:45 1500m. Age wise he is 58 or so. I looked him up and did not see anything at all relating to a 3:45 1500m in connection with his name. My thoughts if you ran a 3:45 1500m wouldn’t that time be listed in IAAF or something? I am thinking a 3:45 1500m is inside 4:00 for a mile not exactly a random runner time. My times are not listed because I only ran 49.76 and 1:57.15. I am only skeptical because the guy tries to one up everyone. For example, if you play poker, he plays in the World Series Main Event and cashed, if you surf, he has charged Mavericks.
.....
It's not likely but certainly possible. I had teammates in the 1990s:
High School 100m..........10.15
2 Steeplechase..8:12.** & 8:34
2 Quartermilers..............sub 45
3 half milers................sub 1:50
High Jumper..................7-5 3/4
400hurdler......................sub 48
Long jumper.......................27-7
that's 11 teammates who were very good and only 5 of them you will DEFINITELY find information on the internet in 2026. I competed against two South Africans in cross country and both ran sub 13:50 on the track and slightly over a decade later I wasn't able to find anything on either.